THE CHOIR ORGAN AS A SEPARATE CASE.
As a Screen to the Player.--Choir Front in the Lower Part of Case.
Although organs now do not consist merely of a Great and Choir (or
Chair) organ, the two cases add much to the look of an instrument,
and the Choir case makes an excellent screen to conceal the organist.
Old organs of any pretensions are rarely without it, and for church
organs, which stand in a gallery, or in any other raised position,
it should always make its appearance. For a concert-room organ, or
an organ standing on the ground, it is not required. In some German
instruments, the Choir case is so small, that one suspects that it is a
sham, or at most merely a console to hold the keys. In France, reversed
key-boards are coming into fashion; and to hide them, a screen of pipes
is a pardonable deception. A German custom of putting the Choir Front
into the lower part of the case of the Great Organ, under its pipes,
where the key-board is usually placed, has a very uncomfortable look;
although we know that Great and Choir pipes are often put into the same
case, and there is no reason why, if this is done, the exterior of
the case should not show it. Still there is something strange in the
appearance.